


A Little Cup of Tea

by dentsucree



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-19 19:31:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20215081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dentsucree/pseuds/dentsucree
Summary: Stuck at the Shinobi Union Headquarters going over important documents late into the night, Shikamaru figured a little cup of caffeine could push both he and Temari along.





	A Little Cup of Tea

**Author's Note:**

> Set after the Great Shinobi War. I would say sometime between 4-8 months afterwards. Everything here occurs way before Shikamaru Hiden.
> 
> Temari still has her four ponytails and Shikamaru hasn't quite gotten to Shikamaru Hiden levels of jaded.

A year ago Temari wouldn’t mind sitting down to power through the piles of paperwork like she usually did when they had worked on the chuunin exams together, but with the newfound peace in the world, she didn’t have any high-ranking missions to balance out her stagnant days in the office. She was more restless nowadays; taking breaks more frequently while grabbing tea on her way and paces about the office whenever she brainstorms on a project.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, was hell-bent on getting the job done. With him being the Nara clan head and the junior assistant to the Hokage, he had no business lazing around as he used to. He supposes the war has changed them both in some ways.

Tonight was an especially long and arduous night at the Shinobi Union headquarters. All Hidden Villages were going through reconstruction after the Great Shinobi War and none of the five Great Shinobi Nations had enough resources of their own to rebuild. And so, as the representatives of their respective villages, Temari and Shikamaru were tasked with organizing intervillage trading for construction materials. It would have been manageable had their daimyos not pushed the other Wind and Fire Country villages’ trade deadlines onto them as well.

“Can’t they get someone else to deal with their own shit?!” Temari exclaimed earlier this week.

Shikamaru knows the daimyos can, but they thought it more efficient to push these responsibilities onto shinobi who were much more familiar with warfare and its consequences than their civilian counterparts. It’s all a little more than troublesome to deal with, but it made sense.

He stretched his arms, leaned back in his chair, yawned, then pushed away his stack of completed files. There wasn’t much left to be done on his end. He supposed he could allow himself to take a break now. He glanced across the table and saw his blonde colleague hard at work: Temari was supporting the side of her head with her fingers splayed across the side of her left temple and forehead. Her four blonde ponytails had already lost their structure, looking less like the puffy spikes they usually are and more like regular ponytails. Her eyebrows were furrowed, clearly deep in concentration – or at least trying to be if those slight bags under her eyes were any indication of her level of fatigue.

Shikamaru realized that he was probably staring at his partner a little too long. If she hadn’t noticed him by now, she was definitely due for a little break.

“Hey…”

Temari kept her eyes glued to the paper.

Shikamaru cleared his throat and spoke up a little louder, “Hey.”

That seemed to shake Temari out of her trance. He felt a little guilty for a moment for disrupting her. She glanced up to look at the source of her distraction, her teal eyes bright as ever even in the night. Even in her state of sleep deprivation, they still held their fierceness. Although, the mix of confusion and slight sleepiness in them made his heart twinge.

“What?” she asked.

“Did you want to take a break?”

She inhaled, sat up a little straighter and surveyed the files in front of her and released her breath.

“No, I think I’m alright. I need to read through these reports by the morning anyway.”

Shikamaru mentally noted that he didn’t recall her getting up to take a walk ever since they finished dinner nearly seven hours ago. He was about to protest her declination, but he’s had his share of close deadlines too. He resigned and simply nodded.

“Alright, well…I’m gonna go stretch my legs for a bit,” Shikamaru declares as he stands up and pushes his desk chair back. “I’m heading to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee…want anything?”

“Hmm?” She had already resumed reading the paper in front of her.

Shikamaru sighed and decided to leave her be.

In the lounge downstairs, Shikamaru took a sip of his newly brewed coffee. He didn’t add any cream or sugar. He’s never bothered to add much to his coffee anyway, although in the past that had more to do with the fact that it would’ve taken more effort to clean up his mess than to just leave his coffee black.

As he turned to leave, his thoughts drifted back to his colleague upstairs. He felt a little guilty holding a cup of coffee in hand whilst Temari was desperately clinging onto consciousness upstairs.

He wondered if he should brew another cup and stared at the coffeemaker. _No,_ he thought. She’s complained about how cheap it tasted once or twice before when she ran out of her own tea.

_Tea!_ That’s it. He could bring her a cup of tea. Easy enough; she always drank the same thing every time they’ve worked together. Except, he couldn’t recall the type of tea she drank. He wracked his brain trying to remember if she’d ever mentioned what it was called. All he knew was that she liked it on the sweet side. He learned that one day when she offered to let him sip some of her tea.

It was strong and aromatic, indicative of a mix of spices likely native to Suna, he assumed. He took a sip and he was right except – it was too saccharine for his tastes. It must’ve shown on his face as Temari chuckled, reaching back for her cup.

“What, are the spices too intense for the mild Konohan tongue?”

“Tsk. I can take spices just fine. I just never took you for a sweet tooth is all.”

She raised an eyebrow and shot him a coy smile, “Not even after all those trips to that dango shop?”

He never thought much of those times she practically dragged him to the little hole in the wall. He figured it was only out of convenience they frequented the shop as it was only a few blocks away from the Hokage building. But right now, they were far from Konoha and even further away from Suna. He couldn’t just grab her stash of tea leaves from her complimentary ambassadorial suite. Unless…

He placed his coffee on the counter and started rummaging through the cupboards, hoping to find Temari’s tea.

_They must be in here somewhere, _he thought, as he searched through the various kitchen items. He saw her drink some the other day.

_Bingo._

He finds a glass jar of dried tea leaves labeled with Temari’s name on it.

Around it there were smaller containers in the same style filled with assorted spices he’s unfamiliar with. Shikamaru’s heart stopped. These spices are probably what Temari uses for her own special concoction. One that he has absolutely no clue how to recreate.

He sighed. He stood there for a minute staring at the jars thinking about the daunting task ahead of him, then wondered whether he should just return to the office and leave it be.

_Well, I got myself this far._

With that thought, Shikamaru went ahead and prepared the tea. He hoped he remembered enough of its taste from the last time he tried it to make a decent cup.

Shikamaru opened the door to the office and found Temari in the same position he left her in. He walked over to her side and gently set the cup of tea in front of her, being careful not to startle her.

She heard the sound of the cup hitting the table and glanced at it. She blinked, then looked up and raised an eyebrow at Shikamaru.

“It’s yours,” he clarifies.

She blinks twice and reaches for the tea. Shikamaru feels his heart beat faster.

Damn coffee.

_My coffee!_ He realized he’d left it at the lounge downstairs. _Idiot._

“You made this?” Temari finally spoke up, breaking Shikamaru’s thoughts.

“Yeah. It’s that tea you always drink. Or at least I think it is,” he answered while scratching the back of his head.

“I uh, tried to get the ratio of the spices right, but I might’ve completely butchered it.” His neck was feeling awfully warm right now.

Temari gave the tea a sniff. She raised it to her mouth, then stopped.

“You didn’t poison this thing did you?”

“Tsk. After all the work we’ve done to keep the peace up to this point?”

Temari chuckles, “I’m just messin’ with ya.”

She finally takes a sip. Her face was neutral and Shikamaru couldn’t quite gauge how she felt.

“Like I said, I have no idea what you put in that thing. I just sort of guessed and – “

“It’s good.”

He probably should’ve watered down that coffee earlier. These heart palpitations were getting annoying.

“I mean, it’s not the same, but it’s fine. I like it,” she clarifies. Temari turns to face him and gently smiles,

“Thanks.”

He’d seen her smile a handful of times; eyes crinkled with her brilliant teeth bared. Most of them were born out of her joy in teasing Shikamaru during one of their talks or after beating him in a sparring match.

This one was different. It was…softer. Warmer. More sincere.

Shikamaru wondered just how exhausted the kunoichi was if she wasn’t aware that she was acting so unlike herself. He chalked it up to delusion from lack of sleep, but he could’ve sworn he also saw Temari’s eyes twinkle.

“It’s no problem,” he replied. “How much longer do you think you’re gonna stay up?”

She looked over to her right where a significant pile of papers and files lay. Shikamaru internally winced at the sight.

Temari sighed, “A lot longer than I was hoping to.”

“Are there any files pertaining to the Land of Fire?”

“Not sure. I haven’t really looked through the stack. Why?”

“I could help you out.”

Temari sat up straighter and shook her head furiously.

“Oh, no. That’s not necessary. Besides, you’ve already almost finished your end,” Temari said, pointing her head in the direction of his documents.

“Exactly,” he rebutted. “I’m basically done. I could help you out with anything dealing with a Fire village.”

Temari hesitated.

“Are you sure?”

Shikamaru wasn’t sure what he was thinking or saying at this point. He was beyond exhausted considering he hadn’t even gotten the chance to properly drink his coffee. But he knew Temari had been poring over these trade negotiations for days and Suna’s limited trading capabilities didn’t help.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

The Sand kunoichi lowered her eyes and bit her lower lip. She looked like she was deliberating his offer to help but felt conflicted. She was prideful even in her tired state.

“Stop being stubborn, woman.”

She glared at him, then sighed.

“I would really appreciate it…” she relented.

He crossed behind her chair to sort through the stack of files. As it turned out, there were a handful of Fire Country trade agreements to be reviewed. He grabbed them and went to work.

The pair spent another two hours finishing up the rest of their files and when everything was completed, Shikamaru let out a huge, long yawn.

“Looks like that coffee didn’t help out much, huh?” Temari teased.

It took a second to register what Temari meant, seeing as he didn’t have any coffee at hand. He realized she was talking about the coffee that he had mentioned he made earlier. The one he stupidly forgot downstairs.

But she didn’t need to know that.

“Told ya it was garbage,” she continued, gathering up all of her documents.

“Better than that sugar bomb you slurp up every day,” he quipped.

She narrowed her eyes at him, “I’ll have you know that that is one of Suna’s most prized teas. You just don’t get it, what with you and your Konohan palate. Besides…,” she smirked at him,

“You have to prepare it the right way.”

Shikamaru was convinced he had become delirious at this point because before he could think of an adequate response to her jab, his mouth blurted out,

“Then teach me some time.”

Temari froze. Then she looked directly at him and replied,

“Then come to Suna some time.”

Temari’s teal eyes pierced through his. For a moment, Shikamaru couldn’t breathe. The room somehow felt much smaller; the air much heavier. He had no idea why. He questioned whether she felt the same, but the thought came and went. He was completely fixated on his partner in front of him, her sharp, bright teal eyes were drawing him closer…and closer…

Temari broke her gaze and cleared her throat. Shikamaru felt like he was broken out of a trance. If he didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought he was under a genjutsu just moments ago.

Since when did he put his hand on the desk to lean over?

God, he really needed some fucking sleep.

“Anyway,” Temari spoke up, breaking the silence. “Thank you for all of your help.”

“Of course. That’s what allies are for,” Shikamaru reassured her, but the word ‘allies’ left an unsatisfying taste on his tongue.

“Right,” Temari snorted. “Allies…”

Something in her tone seemed off, but he wasn’t too sure. He wished he were more awake right now so he could properly analyze this conversation that suddenly felt like had turned in a completely different direction.

“Well, I should go get some rest before that godforsaken meeting in a few hours. You should too,” she sent him an encouraging, albeit exhausted, look.

“Goodnight,” she said, then turned towards the door to exit. Just as she turned the handle, he replied,

“Goodnight…‘Mari.”

She paused, briefly turned back, and gave him a small smile.

**Author's Note:**

> I had intended for this to be a cute little one-shot and not whatever monster this ended up being.


End file.
